When it was time for us to move on from Scottyland, we actually were ready and on our way about 40 mins ahead of our 11am planned leave time!  That was a first for us!  Our day was to be a fairly short one, only 197 miles to Lancaster Co. PA.  We got off the PA Turnpike in Bedford for a fill-up on fuel at the GetGo, a station that is connected to Giant Eagle grocery store.  Michelle has a points card with them, that we used while there, bringing her points up to 180.  We borrowed her card and saved $1.80 per gallon off diesel!  How awesome is that?  That amounted to $54 in savings!  To be fair, we will be giving her half that back, since she used the card as much, if not more, than we did, but Bill figured it was a win-win!

As hard as it was leaving Michelle, (we will actually see her again next weekend when she comes to visit!), seeing our son was in front of us, so I had to focus on that to help keep the tears from getting out of control.  Our schedule for visits is a bit crazy from now til we leave for FL on Dec 27, but I hope you will all keep up!

We are staying with Bill’s friend, Ken, in his driveway.  It was extremely generous of he and his wife, Nancy, to open their home to us!  They live about 25 miles from Billy, but even the campgrounds that are open this time of year are that far or even further.  One we considered is about 2 or 3 miles closer, but they were filled up, due to having construction going on and not many sites available.  We will probably go check it out for our second time in the area, around Dec 20.

Bill was backing into our spot for the next 13 nights by about 3:15.  Ken and Nancy greeted us with warm hugs, and a delicious dinner and homemade apple pie!  We started catching up until it was time for getting some sleep, both Ken and Nancy had to work tbe next day.  

Monday was all about seeing Billy!  He was off and we were spending it together, nothing in particular going on, just visiting and dinner of Thanksgiving Day leftovers!  YUM!  

My men put together our new bike rack.  I don’t think I’ve mentioned it before – Swagman replaced our failed bike rack with a new one.  Not the same one that failed, but their top of the line – a heavy-duty rated for the back of an RV bike rack!  Bill had looked it up – is twice the price of the broken one!  We will also be getting a check to replace our bikes that were trashed – $1000!  Now that’s an awesome company that is standing behind their product like that!  

Several days have gone by since I last added to this post. We have been keeping busy!

We’ve seen Billy just about every day.  One day when he was done at work, we headed north to our friends, the Yaeger’s.  Due to having to work, Billy didn’t get to go to the gathering when Jim passed away, so we told him we’d take him.  We spent the night, leaving by 3 the next afternoon.   We needed to be back b/c Michelle was on her way!

Bill and I dropped him off at his apartment and headed home.  The kids had plans to go out and we were not invited!  Michelle got to the rig about midnight – not too late.  We had a big day planned for the next day – Jaime was coming!

Jaime arrived around noon and after hugs and some food – we left for our dress shopping appointment.  We stopped along the way at the Dunkin Donuts where Billy works, to see him as well as get a beverage.  I decided on a Vanilla Chai Latte, which was a bit sweeter than I prefer, but warm and toasty!  

The Davids Bridal was easy to find, and our consultant,  was ready for us.  We talked a bit about the colors of the wedding and I showed her pics of the wedding gown so she could see the the style. 

To her credit, Jaime was the best maid-of-Honor ever!  She tried on several gowns, but only one was a true contender.  The consultant then showed us the fabric swatches that the gown was available in and there was not an acceptable color in the bunch.   We seriously considered a shade of plum, which while a great color, didn’t look as well with Jaimes red hair and fair skin tone as we would have liked.  So we decided on a different approach, which dresses came in a good color?  Michelle choose 2 different options and   brought 2 of the 3 dresses available in those colors.  Unfortunately, they didn’t have a sample of the third dress for Jaime to try on.  More unfortunate, we weren’t really happy with any of them.  

A new plan was needed.  After much discussion, it was decided Michelle would go back to the shop where hers and my dresses were ordered and see about ordering one for Jaime there.  We had seen several styles we liked for her there, and the 2 that looked best on her at Davids Bridal had very close look-alikes at MB Bride.  So – Michelle will check which has the best color option and order it.  We measured Jaime when we got back to the rig so Michelle could pass that info along.  The quality of the dresses at MB Bride were far superior, especially considering the price difference will only be about 10% higher, after the 10% discount b/c the wedding dress was bought there.  Not too bad at all.  Whew!  Fingers crossed!

As I type and hope to finally get this posted, it is our final night here in New Holland.  Tomorrow we head to see our friends, the Infosino’s.  

This week has just gone by so quickly!  We’ve had lots of time with Billy.  We had dinners together, one night I had empanadas he made from scratch and watched a movie at his apartment, while Bill went out with Ken and Dustin.  One evening we fried some of the halibut Bill caught in AK and another dinner was reindeer sausage.  Yummy!

I had an awesome day with my friend, Cherie, having lunch out, getting my hair cut and both of us getting pedicures!  Topped off the day with new sneakers and a stop at our fav Reading farmers market for some Jambalaya J’s jambalaya!  It is the best!  As good as, if not better, than what we had in New Orleans earlier this year!  

While I was spending the day with Cherie, my guys went on a hike on Neversink Mountain.  The weather was nice and sunny so they took advantage of it!

Another evening, we drove up to our former neighborhood to see our good friends, Matt & Lisa.  They wanted to take us to dinner, and were surprised that we just wanted to go to Exeter Family Restaurant, a local diner we used to go to all the time.  It’s sometimes nice to just reminisce in a familiar place with friends!  Thanks again guys for a great time!  

The temps have been getting colder here, was getting to mid-40’s in the day, but more recently only 30’s.  At night it was in the 30’s, but now only low 20’s!  What are we thinking?  We’ve gone through a good bit of propane, thankfully Ken & Nancy have a Costco membership and took Bill to fill our tanks for a really good price.  

I helped Nancy decorate some shortbread cookies one afternoon!  What fun!  Nancy is a really good cook and baker and I appreciate her letting me join in!   We hope to get to visit Longwood Gardens, where Nancy works, when we come back to the area – that would be great!  

One of Ken & Nancys fav places to eat has a turkey and waffle special and we decided to go take advantage of that!  Bill and I both have heard of chicken and waffles, but have never tried it.  You all know how trying new things is now one of our “things”.  The turkey and waffles did not disappoint!  Yummy!  

Another thing we’ve taken care of is finally turning in our application to become Elks Lodge members.  We are joining the Ephrata, PA lodge.  They have already been so helpful!  Before our arrival at Michelle’s, Bill had left voicemails and sent emails to 2 lodges closest to her, and we never heard back.  How rude!  The people in Ephrata have been wonderful, agreeing to allow us to stay there when we return to Lancaster County on Dec 20, even though we probably won’t be full fledged members yet.  We will now have another list of places to check out as possible places to stay!  And – the Ephrata lodge has no official fees – donations only!  I’m sure we will give enough to cover our expenses, as well as take advantage of their weekend dinners and Sunday breakfasts!  

It’s time to get this finished!  As I close I’d like to thank Ken & Nancy for opening their home and driveway to us!  We have enjoyed our time spent here very much!